Roses Are Gold, Violets Are Silver
by darkestharmony
Summary: National Treasure/Numb3rs crossover. Terrorists, treasure hunters, FBI agents, and attempted murder; what else could a trip to Los Angeles have? Charlie/Riley.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Roses Are Gold, Violets Are Silver  
Pairing: Charlie Eppes/Riley Poole  
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Terrorists, treasure hunters, FBI agents, love, and attempted murder; what else could a trip to Los Angeles have?  
Chapter: 1  
Warnings: Minor cursing.  
Note: Wow. I just reread the original version of this - yikes! Haha, I'm such a horrible bad!fic writer. So this is a National Treasure/Numb3rs crossover, and hopefully it's much better than it was before. There is no intentional character bashing in this, since I love them all. Written along the guidelines of Prompt # 6 for the lover100 challenge on LJ. Takes place in this season of Numb3rs. I do not own the characters or show/movies.

---

"So, uh, Ben, when do we get there?" Riley asked impatiently, looking out of the plane window. This was a matter of 'national security', so why was it taking so long to get to Los Angeles? They were in a jet, compliments of the FBI.

Ben sighed and held Abigail's hand as they went over the situation again. Riley listened attentively.

"So the FBI has used all of their sources and had to turn to us?" Riley asked. Ben nodded.

"Essentially, yes," Ben said.

"How does a painting qualify as an urgent matter of national security?" Riley asked, looking at Abigail. She always knew the answer. "I mean, some guy painted them before the United States was even founded. I highly doubt that it would have any information that could be used against the government."

"The agent I spoke to on the phone said that the group who stole this painting were terrorists," Abigail said. Riley couldn't help but give a short laugh.

"Stealing paintings is not something terrorists normally do," Riley said.

"These terrorists are different," Abigail said. She glanced at Ben then made eye contact with Riley. "They killed the security guards and the cops that responded to the alarm. This painting obviously meant so much to them that they-"

"Had to kill the people that were trying to keep them from stealing it," Ben interrupted. Abigail and Riley looked at Ben with confusion in their eyes.

"Yes, that was what I was about to say," Abigail said, tightening her hand on Ben's hand and giving him a stern look. Riley immediately felt uncomfortable.

"I didn't know if you would get to the point," Ben said. "I could see Riley's eyes beginning to glaze over. You know how he gets with -"

"Long explanations?" Abigail asked. "I do. See how annoying that is?"

"I could think of a few things that are even more annoying than-"

"Me finishing your sentence," Abigail said. "Yes, I'm sure you could."

"Could you guys stop?" Riley asked. "It's starting to freak me out. You're like the perfect couple in cheesy romance flicks."

"I don't -" Ben began.

"See how we can even -" Abigail said this with a smile. Riley wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"Be connected to such atrocious -" Even Ben had a small smile on his face.

"Just stop -" Riley was interrupted

"This nonsense because -" Ben dodged a pen thrown at him courtesy of Riley.

"It's highly annoying." Riley finished. Abigail laughed.

"You were asking for it," she said.

"No, you guys are just mean," Riley said. "Picking on me like that? I thought that kind of stuff stopped in first grade."

"We were picking on you, Riley," Ben said. "We were teasing you. There is a difference."

"Not in my book," Riley grumbled.

"Your book doesn't matter," Abigail said. "The only book that matters -"

"Is the dictionary," Ben said. "Preferably the Merriam-Webster version, but it could be any." Abigail looked amused and raised an eyebrow to him. Riley was glaring.

"I was going to say the only book that matters was my book," Abigail said. "But that works too."

"Back to the point," Riley said. "Why does the FBI need to know why the terrorists are so interested in the paintings?"

"Well for one thing, the paintings were handpicked by Mr. President himself," Ben said.

"And for another, the terrorists shot and killed one of their own," Abigail said.

"All good reasons to want to find them," Riley said. "But why are we getting called on this?"

"Well, originally, it was just me," Ben said. "I wanted to take Abigail, and I didn't want you complaining when I got back because I didn't take you."

"You said they wanted all three of us," Riley said. "What if they realize that there's three - not one - of us?"

"I'm sure they won't mind," Abigail said. "They need all the help they can get."

"Because my conspiracy theories are the perfect solution to all of life's mysteries," Riley said.

"Who knows, they could be," Ben said. "It's helped us out before." Riley gave a smug, appreciative smile. He loved praise, but then again, he had never met somebody who doesn't.

-

Riley was well prepared as he stepped off the jet. His pockets were stuffed with peanut packets and he even had the obligatory sunglasses on that FBI agents wore when they got off jets. He tried to walk slowly and dramatically off, but Abigail had just pushed him forward.

"Riley, you're the side-kick," Abigail teased as they made their way to Baggage Claim. She swiftly grabbed the sunglasses from his face. "Besides, we're inside, you could trip over something."

"Thanks, Mom," Riley said. When they finally got their luggage and went outside for their pick-up vehicle, Ben finally spoke up. Abigail hadn't given Riley back his sunglasses. He was the only one with unprotected eyes.

"Do you think they'd send a van for us?" Ben asked. It was an odd question for Ben to say. Abigail expected that from Riley.

"No," Abigail said.

"Unless they have free candy," Riley interjected. Abigail punched him lightly in the arm.

"Ow," Riley whispered, rubbing the spot on his arm. Ben's eyes were focused on the white van, his face expressionless. Abigail and Riley were standing behind him, wondering what he was seeing that they weren't.

The van drove past them with incident. Riley blinked.

"Ben, what's wrong?" Abigail asked, handing Riley his sunglasses and putting a hand on his shoulder. Ben was about to answer when a black SUV pulled into the space in front of them. Their ride had arrived.

"Get in," a woman said as she rolled down the passenger side window. Riley helped Ben put the luggage in the back of the car. Abigail got in the front seat and sat quietly. The two women waited patiently for Ben and Riley to get in.

"My name is Robin Brooks," The agent said. The woman was dressed in a dark business suit and sunglasses. "Did you get the information we sent you?"

"Yes, we did," Ben said. "Do you have any leads?"

"Not at the moment, but we have our team working on it right now," Robin said. "But I guess that since you're here, people will believe that some pirates have taken it. The whole city knows you're here, thanks to KABC. I'm surprised they don't get the damn BOLO or APB broadcasts when they're sent out."

"I didn't see any newscast vans," Riley said.

"Then I guess they're stuck in traffic," Robin said. "Traffic is jammed, like every other day. I'm surprised the news is on time every night."

"Are we really that famous?" Abigail asked. "We haven't done anything that the press has gotten wind of in two years."

"Two years and seven months," Riley piped up. Abigail rolled her eyes. She knew he was joking - it couldn't have been that long ago - but she could tell that he was, in a way, flirting with Robin.

"You all went on an adventure with the president," Robin said. "You also discovered real treasure, and cleared the name of a suspect in the Lincoln assassination. Not to mention you found the City of Gold."

"It's not like we filmed an award-winning film," Riley said. Ben just glanced at Riley before looking out the window. Abigail smiled to herself and sat back in her seat, holding her purse tightly in her hands.

"The way the press talks about your adventures, you seem to have done just that," Robin said. Her phone rang just as Riley opened his mouth to comment on that. He quickly shut it and opened a pack of peanuts, throwing them in the air and trying to catch them with his mouth. He wondered if he could get fined for making a mess in the back of a fed's car.

"It seems like they've just gotten a lead," Robin said, closing her phone. Riley perked up, excitement in his eyes. Ben and Abigail didn't even have to look at him to notice it. They had gotten so used to him acting like that that it came as a trait of Riley's. It was adorable, like in the way a two year old can't pronounce certain letters but try to anyway and end up saying "'Orsey" instead of "Horsey".

"Can you turn on the sirens?" Riley asked, leaning forward. Robin just blinked once and slowed as she approached a red light. She turned in her seat to him.

"This isn't a cop car, this is a federal vehicle," Robin said. "We don't have sirens, we just have speed."

"Then turn on the speed," Riley said. He blinked and leaned back a little. "That sounded a lot smarter in my head."

"I'm sure it did," Robin said, rolling her eyes. Regardless, when she turned back around, there were blue and red lights flashing in the front of the car. She sped up quickly, narrowly avoiding passing cars as she made a right turn.

Riley, out of instinct, quickly held onto the inside door handle. Ben smiled and leaned closer to Riley. Riley turned to him and Robin made another quick turn, making Riley's head jerk back and narrowly miss hitting the window.

"Well, I was going to say this isn't as bad as Abigail's driving but maybe it is," Ben whispered to him. Abigail half-turned in her seat and smacked him as hard as she could.

"Sorry," Ben said, returning to his side of the car. Abigail was fuming, upset that she had to act like that in front of somebody she barely knew. Ben felt some remorse, but only because Abigail hadn't him nearly as hard as she wanted to.

"We're almost there," Robin said, swerving in and out of some cars driving the speed limit.

"Where's the fire?" Riley asked, trying to keep his pockets from spilling his peanut packets. It took them two minutes to get to their destination. Riley stepped out of the car as dramatically as he had tried to be in the airport. This time he was successful. The others did look at him weird, though.

They all followed Robin inside, who was walking incredibly fast for somebody in heels. Her speed rivaled Abigail's, who had grown accustomed to walking quickly in heels. Riley and Ben had to practically jog to catch up with them at the elevator.

--

"Riley, Abigail, you two wait here," Robin said as she nodded to Ben to go into the briefing room where four men stood, talking among each other. Riley groaned but sat down in a chair anyway, taking out a bag of peanuts and staring at the floor. Abigail took a seat next to him and crossed her legs. She watched them carefully, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

"Peanut?" Riley asked, handing the small packet out in front of her. Abigail shook her head.

"No thank you," Abigail said. "What do you think they're talking about in there?" Riley shrugged.

"Probably super-secret FBI stuff," Riley said, attempting to pop a peanut in his mouth. He missed and it landed in his hood.

"You're really awful at that," Abigail said.

"I know," Riley said. "But you know what they say, practice makes perfect."

"You've always had terrible aim," Abigail said.

"Not always," Riley protested. "I can shoot things pretty well in Halo!"

"Because you aren't holding the gun," Abigail said, a small smile on her face. "If you had a gun in real life, you wouldn't know what to do with it."

"If you had a broken computer you wouldn't know what to do with it," Riley said.

"I know," Abigail said. "But I have you, so it's okay."

"You shouldn't always expect help from me just because I'm an expert at computers," Riley said.

"Not just computers - everything related computers," Abigail reminded him. "You see, there are geeks, then there are Rileys. Guess which one you are?" She seemed distracted, her eyes glued on the room.

"A Riley?" Riley asked, scowling at Abigail. He ate the last peanut in the packet and stuffed the bag in his pocket.

"Correct," Abigail said. "So stop complaining, okay?" She stood up as Ben exited the room with the five people behind him.

"How was that supposed to make me feel better?" Riley asked, standing up after her and jogging over to where she and Ben were. The others were beginning to disband and go their separate ways.

"Riley, meet Dr. Charlie Eppes," Robin said, pointing out a man who was talking to one of the detectives that had been in the room with her. He was about Riley's height, give or take an inch. "And this is his brother, Don."

"Hi," Charlie said, walking forward to greet Riley. Riley was an inch or so taller than him.

"Hey," Riley said, taking out another packet of peanuts and opening it. Robin seemed to have not noticed.

"You both will be working together on creating a computer program to accompany Charlie's theory," Robin said. "He can explain it better than I can." Riley just blinked.

"No conspiracy theories?" Riley asked. "No suspect?"

"Not yet," Don said. "And no."

"Riley, this isn't like Science Saved The Cat," Abigail said. "The FBI doesn't have a magical instrument that automatically tells them who the suspect is or why the crime was committed."

"I know that," Riley said. "But I expected… car chases, breaking and entering, you know, that kind of stuff."

"This is actual FBI work," Ben said. "It's not all fun and games."

"He's right," Don said. He tapped Charlie, who had been checking his phone, on the shoulder. "See you at Dad's later."

"Bye," Charlie said, putting his phone back in his pocket. Don and Robin walked off together.

"I guess we should head out," Ben said, holding a pair of keys out to Abigail. "We'll call you later, Riley."

"Yeah, okay," Riley said, watching them walk off with longing in his eyes. They were going to their nice hotel - surprisingly, Ben hadn't spent all his money on a sports car - and Riley would be stuck in a closed down room with somebody he didn't know. Memories were not the best things to dwell on in a crisis, especially memories as bad as the Charlotte incident.

"So what's this theory?" Riley asked. Charlie's eyes brightened up a little and Riley could tell he was really enthusiastic about it. Hopefully he could understand what Charlie was saying.

And he did. Well, most of it. He asked clarifying questions as they made their way to a room two floors down, and in that time had felt himself gain 10 IQ points. As soon as he saw the computer he would be using, he was disappointed.

"What?" Charlie asked, walking over to the computer and hitting a button on the keyboard. The screen lit up.

"I just expected something… that I didn't have at home," Riley said, sliding into the seat in front of the computer. "I expected something… huge."

"Like on Science Saved The Cat?" Charlie asked. Riley looked up at him.

"You watch that show, too?" Riley asked. Charlie nodded and pulled up a chair next to Riley.

"Yeah, when I have nothing else to do," Charlie said. Riley wasn't about to mention that he watched it religiously so he changed the subject.

"So how do I do this?" Riley asked. He had never done this sort of thing. He'd hacked into the security system at the National Archives and compromised the security at the Queen's Palace in London but this concept was new to him.

Well, figuring out how to input the equation was. He could do the rest on his own just fine. He wasn't completely incompetent.

Luckily, Charlie had and instructed him on what to do to get started. Riley wondered if he could do any serious damage to the FBI with this computer but refrained from asking for fear that he could be labeled a terrorist for the second time in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hm…" Charlie said, crossing his arms and resting his chin on one of his hands. He tilted his head slightly as he stared at the map on the large screen that was starting to have red dots pop up all over the place. The dots represented empty buildings without security cameras pointed at them. They didn't seem to have anything in common but Charlie would fix that. He could find patterns like it was nobody's business.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked, looking up from the computer. It wasn't possible he had done something wrong… no, it was possible - anything is possible, he reminded himself - but highly improbable. He was a highly skilled computer genius and he rarely ever made mistakes. Riley decided that he didn't sound like a conceited man but a man who was really skilled in his job.

"The dots…" Charlie said, seeming to continue the thought in his mind. Riley let him be. Ben was like this sometimes and Riley had learned that if it was really important, he'd make sure he had it all sorted out before he spoke. Maybe it was something people who weren't computer geniuses did.

"What about them?" Riley offered when moments of silence passed. He didn't like not being 'in the know'.

"They all… something's wrong," Charlie said suddenly, rushing out of the room and jogging down the hallway to the elevator. Riley blinked and stared at the map, wondering if he could see whatever Charlie saw. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about them so Riley took a closer look on his computer screen. Still nothing wrong, they were just randomly placed dots.

His phone rang, the ringtone nearly deafening in the silent room. He fumbled with it for a moment before answering.

"Yo," Riley said, leaning back in the chair. He had seen from the caller ID that it was Ben who had called.

"Riley, they found a body with a piece of the painting," Ben said. "This is bigger than we thought it was."

"What do you mean?" Riley asked, leaning forward and staring up at the map on the big screen.

"A dead body had a piece of the missing painting on it," Ben said.

"I know that, but how is it bigger than before?" Riley asked. There was a moment of silence before Ben answered.

"The body has been confirmed to be Ian Howe," Ben said. Riley felt his stomach drop and his blood run cold.

"How did you find out?" Riley asked.

"Agent Don Eppes told us they found a new victim who was one of their suspects," Ben said. "When I asked for the name, that was what I was told."

"Ian? Really?" Riley asked. Sure, he thought Ian was a bad man but… something didn't add up to Riley but he pushed it down, promising himself he'd figure out what it was later.

"Yeah, so are you busy?" Ben asked. Riley looked around the empty room.

"No, Charlie walked out a while ago," Riley said. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to get you," Ben said. He hung up and Riley stared at his phone for a moment before putting it away and taking out his Blackberry. He then plugged it into the computer, uploading the addresses to his computer. They could come in handy later. Riley stuffed the phone back into his pocket and walked to the elevator, pressed the down button, and opened a bag of peanuts.

Ben appeared outside of the building a few moments after Riley stepped out. Riley scrambled into the front seat, pulling his shades on.

"Where are we heading?" Riley asked, pulling out his Blackberry. Ben just raised an eyebrow.

"I still don't get why you don't just use that as your primary phone," Ben said as he pulled into traffic. Riley scoffed as if that were the most absurd idea he had ever heard. "To answer your question, we're going to a building on Third Street."

"This baby is for storing portable information - like the addresses for the places Charlie predicted that the thieves were hiding out," Riley said. He searched for Third Street on it and happily rocked back and forth in his seat, shaking his head with a dumb smile on his face.

"What?" Ben asked. "Win a game of Solitaire?" Riley glared at him and stopped rocking in his seat.

"No, the building was one of the red dots," Riley said. "Which means that -"

"It could be a coincidence," Ben said. Riley glared even harder.

"Why must you ruin all the fun?" Riley asked.

"I ruin the fun for being logical?" Ben asked, laughing.

"Yes, you do!" Riley said. "It bursts my bubble! I thought I was onto something here, and you just ruin it all with your talk of coincidences."

"You're like a kid," Ben said to himself. "Listen, you could be right and I could be wrong, and I bet I am. I just don't want you out there chasing empty buildings for people who are far more dangerous than you could handle."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," Riley said. "Wait, you could be wrong, and I could be right? I could prove you wrong?" Ben nodded.

"It's always possible," Ben said. Riley smiled.

"I can't wait to prove you wrong, then," Riley said. They rode in a comfortable silence, with Riley daydreaming about the day that he finally proved Ben wrong and Ben paying close attention to the road.

"You might want to brace yourself," Ben said as they pulled up in front a building with several black SUVs in front of it. It was three stories high and made of red brick. "It's a little bloody." Riley stood by the car as Ben walked to the entrance, trying to figure out how much 'a little bloody' was on his own. He couldn't.

"How bloody?" Riley asked, catching up with Ben inside. Ben shrugged and turned to a stairwell with bloody footsteps leading up and down. There was only one pair that Riley could see, which made him feel a little woozy already. He didn't do too well around blood.

"Bloody enough to make you want to leave," Ben said as they reached the top of the flight. There, in the middle of the empty floor, with the sun shining down on him, was Ian Howe. Or, rather, what was left of him. His head was nearly blown off. Riley decided to stay by the stairwell, blocking out the image with something happy and wonderful, like a Norwegian supermodel.

"Why am I here, Ben?" Riley asked, turning his body to face them but covering his eyes.

"Because we found this," Don said, standing in front of him - thankfully blocking his view of the body - and handing him a bloody memory card in an evidence bag. It could hold 10 GB, Riley recalled when he recognized it. It was used for bad things, usually, and was nearly impossible to get illegally, and definitely impossible to get legally.

"It's probably blank," Riley said.

"There's always a chance that the guy dropped it and didn't realize it until later," Nikki said. Don shook his head.

"These guys are professionals," Don said. "It's not likely that they'd just drop something like this, if it was important enough to kill for."

"People have killed for less," Ben said, walking around the empty floor. "Especially Ian, so it's no surprise he'd be with people who do the same." Don's phone rang and he excused himself to answer it.

"What could possibly be on this memory card that would make somebody kill their partner-in-crime?" Nikki asked, taking the memory chip in the bag from Riley.

"Security information," Don said. "Homeland Security is joining us in this case. They've reported tons of security information on different museums missing from their hard drives. Guess what else?"

"Those museums have paintings by the same artist?" Nikki offered. Don nodded.

"Exactly, so they want us to have eyes on all of the museums," Don said. "Contact the police departments in the cities of San Diego and San Francisco and tell them to watch their museums." Nikki nodded.

"I guess we should head back to the hotel," Ben said. Riley looked disappointed.

"But I want to help," Riley said.

"I don't think you can right now," Ben said. "Maybe you can later." Don and Nikki left first, both of their phones pressed against their ears.

"Alright, then, let's go," Riley said, ready to get away from Ian's body. They passed the coroner, who seemed to be exhausted.

Once they got into the car, Riley's phone rang.

"Hello?" Riley asked. He hadn't recognized the number.

"Riley, this is Charlie, you need to come back to the FBI building right away." Riley looked at Ben.

"Uh, now?" Riley asked.

"It's very important," Charlie said.

"Okay, I'll be there," Riley said, hanging up.

"We need to go back to the FBI building," Riley said. "Charlie says something important is going on."

"See, I told you that you could help later," Ben said, making a U-Turn and heading back the way they came.

"Can you imagine having Ian as a partner?" Riley asked. "He probably shoved a gun in everyone's faces until things went his way."

"He only did that with you because you were weaker than the rest of us," Ben said.

"Gee, thanks," Riley said. Ben smiled.

"Always glad to help."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Riley entered the room where he had been in earlier that day, he expected Charlie to have something exciting to share with him. Instead, he was treated to a stale cup of coffee and was told that he had to input another equation into the computer that would disqualify some of the empty buildings.

When the new map showed up, Charlie told him that the buildings he had eliminated were places near where the thieves had been seen before. Now, according to his theory, they wouldn't show up to the same place twice - they wouldn't want to risk being caught because of a stupid mistake.

"What if they only want us to think that?" Riley asked.

"Then this wouldn't work," Charlie said. "But I think that it will. I'm 80% positive."

"Why not 20% more sure?" Riley asked.

"There's always that possibility," Charlie said.

"So how come you know all of this stuff?" Riley asked. "All of these theories and equations."

"I guess you could say I'm very enthusiastic about math," Charlie said.

"What an odd thing to be enthusiastic about," Riley said. He had plenty of things he was enthusiastic about: supermodels, computers, James Bond movies, his fans. Math was very low on that list.

"I don't think it's odd at all," Charlie said. "I'm highly skilled with numbers."

"Me too," Riley said. "Even though it's only 0 and 1."

"At least it's something," Charlie said, staring up at the new map.

"Hey, what was going on earlier?" Riley asked. "You never told me what you were talking about."

"Oh, that?" Charlie turned around. "It was nothing, I just had to fix the data."

"Oh," Riley said. "What was wrong with it?"

"You wouldn't understand," Charlie said. Riley was offended but let it go. Charlie was probably right. Charlie's theories and equations were way over his head.


	3. Chapter 3

"Move, move, move!" David shouted, running past everybody to catch the running suspect. Riley had convinced Charlie to go out for a real cup of coffee, but he hadn't expected to have his rather expensive coffee thrown to the ground and a knife held to his throat.

"Riley!" Ben cried out, opening the door to his car. Abigail grabbed him by the arm, giving him a stern look.

"No," Abigail said, looking at the two FBI agents - she had recognized them as David and Colby - who had their guns held to the woman holding the knife to Riley's throat. Charlie backed up into the coffee shop, where everybody else was cowering behind the window.

"Let him go, ma'am!" David said, managing to get ten feet away from her and Riley. The woman had an annoyed look on her face, and stuffed her hand into Riley's jacket pocket, pulling out his Blackberry.

"Hey!" Riley protested. The woman held the knife tighter to his throat, silencing him.

"Quiet," she demanded, stuffing the Blackberry inside of her own pocket. She pushed Riley away, pulling out a semi automatic gun, shooting at David. It was light, small, but she had excellent aim, the bullets flying past David's head dangerously close.

"Colby!" David shouted. From behind the coffee shop, Colby jumped over the hedge acting as a wall, shooting at the car the woman had jumped into. The car drove off but Colby memorized the license plate, 88DKB9.

Colby ran up to David, running a hand over his head as he caught his breath. Ben and Abigail got out of their car, rushing over to Riley, who had a hand to his forehead and a hand on his hip. That Blackberry had everything - all the buildings, the addresses, the equations… but it didn't have the memory chip!

"The chip!" Riley exclaimed. Abigail gave him a confused look.

"Do you still have it?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," Riley said, digging through his pockets. He held it up to Ben, a smug smile on his face. "I think this is what they were after." David walked over to them.

"She's our main suspect now," David said. He looked at the chip in Riley's hands. "We need to see what's inside of that immediately."

"I already looked at it," Riley said. "It's just a bunch of numbers."

"Then we give it to Charlie," David said, looking back to Charlie who was walking over to them with Colby at his side. "He'll figure it out."

"How did they know that Riley had the chip?" Abigail asked David.

"They must've been watching us at the crime scene," Colby said. "You okay?" He looked at Riley, who nodded, feeling incomplete without his Blackberry in his pocket.

"What happens now?" Abigail asked David and Colby. "Do we just wait for Charlie to come up with something?"

"Yeah," Colby said. "This is FBI business…no offense."

"None taken," Abigail said, giving Ben a knowing, hard stare. "We'll get out of your way."

"We'll call you if we get anything," David said. Riley handed the chip to Charlie, jogging to catch up to Ben and Abigail, who were walking quickly back to their car.

"So we're going to check out LA, right?" Riley asked. "We're going to go hit some clubs and-"

"No, we're going to visit Ian's hotel room," Ben said.

"How'd you get access to that?" Riley and Abigail asked simultaneously.

"I haven't got access," Ben said, turning around to face Riley with a smile on his face. "You're going to get access for us."

"But I don't have my Blackberry!" Riley exclaimed.

"Use your laptop," Ben said. They were all silent until they pulled up to the hotel. Riley protested at every step, making sure that everybody knew he did not agree with what Ben was doing. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to hear it. Ben had made up his mind and nobody could convince him otherwise.

"We can't do this, Ben," Abigail said. "We could get arrested!"

"Or killed!" Riley interjected. Ben opened the trunk and stuffed Riley's laptop into his arms.

"Get to work, Riley," Ben said, another smile on his face. "Please?"

"Fine," Riley said, sitting down on one of the chairs in front of the hotel, setting his laptop on the table. Abigail and Ben sat next to him, watching him.

"Searching for Ian Howe now," Riley said, pressing the Enter key and turning to Ben with a large smile on his face. The laptop beeped, signaling that Ian's hotel room had been located.

"What if he's not in a hotel?" Abigail asked, looking at the hotel homepage that had just popped up.

"He is," Riley said, his eyes scanning the page. "He's staying in the Regency. Room two hundred and eleven."

"I feel wrong not telling the others," Abigail said, looking worriedly at Ben.

"Don't feel that way," Ben said, standing up and smiling at her.

"Your smile doesn't make me feel any better," Abigail said, reluctantly giving him a peck on his cheek.

"Abby, everything will work out fine," Ben said.

"Famous last words," Riley said, closing his laptop and tucking it under his arm while he followed them back to the car.

"The Regency is just down the street," Ben said, covering his eyes from the sun and looking to the left.

"You better be right," Abigail said as she and Ben practically ran across the intersection. Riley called out for him and then stopped. He slipped his laptop into his messenger bag and walked casually after them. He was in no rush to get anywhere.

"Hurry up!" Abigail called. Riley sighed and reluctantly began to jog, dodging a car on the way and meeting them in the front of the hotel.

"Room two hundred and eleven should be on the third floor," Ben said, rushing over to the elevator. Inside was a maid, who clearly wasn't having a good day.

"Room two hundred and eleven is on the third floor, right?" Abigail asked her after having a stare down with Ben. The maid nodded, getting off on the second floor.

"Why did you do that?" Ben asked.

"She's more familiar with the hotel than you are," Abigail explained.

"Stop fighting, guys," Riley said, feeling like the child of two parents on the verge of a divorce.

"Here we are," Ben said, stepping out of the elevator immediately, almost running into a young boy with his mother. They found Ian's room quickly, with the door opened slightly. Looking at Abigail and Riley with uneasy eyes, Ben slowly opened the door, preparing for a trashed room.

"Looks like he hadn't checked in yet," Abigail commented, walking over to the coffee table, which had magazines displayed on the top of it. She spread them all out, finding one that didn't look like it was on the hotel's mailing list. 'Snowboarding Monthly' didn't seem like a regular magazine a Los Angeles hotel would subscribe to. Abigail picked it up, nearly jumping when a file slipped out.

"Hey, guys," Abigail called out, picking up the file. "I think I found something." She opened the file, which contained ten documents.

"What is it?" Ben asked. Abigail shrugged.

"I have no idea," Abigail said. "Looks like bank papers."

"So he was the financial support for these guys?" Riley asked, looking at Ben for answers.

"It looks that way," Ben said. He took the file from Abigail and handed it to Riley to put into his messenger bag. Abigail looked out the window, taking in the gorgeous, sunny sky. It was beautiful out.

She looked down at the street, instantly noticing a black SUV - like the ones that the FBI agents drove - stop in front of the entrance. She turned to Ben and Riley, mild panic on her face.

"We should get out of here," Abigail said.

"Why?" Ben asked, running over to the window and peering out. Don and Nikki stepped out of the SUV and into the hotel lobby. "We'll have to use the stairs."

"Do we close the door behind us?" Riley asked as they rushed out of the room. Ben nodded, closing the door behind Riley. They ran over to the stairwell down the hallway, relieved to see that they were alone. Abigail's heels clicked against the stairs, creating an eerie echo in the empty stairwell.

"Shh," Ben said, peering through the door of the stairwell at the FBI agents, who were being led to the elevator by a hotel employee. "They got here quickly."

"So we're withholding information now?" Riley asked. "We're so going to jail for this -"

"Riley, shh!" Ben said, hearing heels click in the stairwell now. All three of them walked out, Riley trying not to run as quickly as he could out of there. They joined a large group of tourists walking in the same direction they were going.

"I don't like this," Riley said. "I'm officially a criminal now."

"You were a criminal before you met me," Ben reminded him.

"You're ruining the point," Riley said. "I've never done anything this illegal -"

"You helped kidnap the president," Ben and Abigail reminded him.

"I…you…alright," Riley said. "Fine, fine, you caught me, I've done worse!"

"So, can I have the file?" Abigail asked in a sweet voice. Riley glared at her, then gave it to her.

"Ben, tell your girlfriend to stop seducing me," Riley said.

"Abigail, stop seducing him," Ben said. Abigail rolled her eyes and Riley stuck his tongue out at her. He looked through the documents, which were full of addresses, bank accounts, and documentation of transfers.

"Who would kill their financer?" Riley asked as they sat in the lobby of their own hotel.

"Somebody who needed to tie up loose ends," Ben said, frowning as he studied the first page.

It was for an overseas account in Europe, though there was nothing alarming about it. It was registered to a Mr. Jonathon Smitts, which was obviously a fake name. His frown deepened as he remembered that his specialty wasn't with banking and financing, though Abigail was skilled at it.

"Look at this and tell me if anything seems weird," Ben said, handing the paper to Abigail. She gave it a quick look over, stopping in the middle of the page.

"The day the first painting was stolen, twenty thousand dollars was put into this account," Abigail said, pointing it out to Ben. "And the same on the next day, and the day before that. Also, weeks before the painting was stolen, there was thirty thousand dollars put into the account."

"That must've been the starting fee," Ben said. Abigail grabbed the second page, noticing that there was handwritten stuff on the bottom, presumably in Ian's own handwriting.

"It seems like Ian filled in what they'd be paid next time," Abigail said, pointing that out to Ben as well. Riley looked out the lobby doors, watching as more FBI agents drove past to go to the Regency.

"Look at that date," Ben said, pointing to the date on the second handwritten dollar amount.

"What about it?" Abigail asked.

"It's three days from now," Ben said. "That could be when they're going to strike next!"

"I highly doubt that," Abigail said.

"Yeah, Ben," Riley said. "Without their financer, how could they pay for the equipment to get into the museum? With all the new security measures, what they used before won't be enough."

"I'm positive they're going to strike," Ben said, a sly smile on his face. "And we'll be there to catch them."

Abigail and Riley just gave him a weird look.

"When you say 'we'," Riley began. "You mean the FBI agents, right?"

"Of course not," Ben said, holding up the file in front of Riley's face. "We can't tell them about this."

"I really think we should," Riley said.

"Then what are we going to do?" Ben asked. "Wait for them to be caught?"

"Well… yeah," Riley said.

"We could send an anonymous tip," Abigail offered.

"I agree with Abigail," Riley said. "I'm not getting myself in a situation where I could be shot."

"Okay, okay," Ben said. "We'll make an anonymous tip."

"Awesome," Riley said, taking out his laptop. "I'll send it in now."

"Wait!" Abigail exclaimed. "How do we know which museum they'll target?"

"The FBI agents can figure it out," Riley said, his fingers typing away quickly on his laptop keyboard.

"True," Ben said. "They have the chip, all we have are files."

"I hope we're doing the right thing," Abigail commented, a worried look on her face. Ben looked at her with a smile.

"Trust me, Abigail, everything will be fine."

* * *

The chapters will be getting longer, I promise! And the updates will get quicker (she said hopefully). Hope you enjoyed it!


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